Heroes (Le Vent des Peupliers)

Synopsis

Heroes is set in 1959. Gustave, Philippe and Henri are residents of a French Military Hospital. Meeting every morning on their quiet terrace, Gustave, Philippe and Henri bicker and tease each other as they reflect on their lives. Looking over the cemetery to the poplars beyond, they dream of escape. Will today be the day they finally make it to Indochina or perhaps only as far as the top of the hill?

Our Review:

18 October 2005

Is Heroes the new Art? It’s also got a one-word title; it’s another established boulevard hit from Paris, again now translated by a leading English playwright (swap Christopher Hampton for Tom Stoppard), likewise directed by a hotshot young director (exchange Matthew Warchus for Thea Sharrock) and produced by David Pugh (who, after the success of Art that subsequently transferred to Broadway, now also has the powerful Shubert Organisation joining him above the title).

It, too, revolves around the friendship of three men, one of whom is – again - being played by Ken Stott (who even has a scene-stealing entrance to compare with the moment he owned in the earlier play) and is similarly played out in an interval-free 90 minutes. And the whole thing is being done again at Wyndham’s Theatre (albeit now under new ownership).

But there the comparisons must stop. If Art was an elegantly crafted study of a crisis of friendship...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

195.82.123.181) - 30 November 2005:

I quite enjoyed this: I laughed quite alot, I thought the set was beautiful, the dialogue well-turned (Stoppard's work sounds great, not like a rigid "translation"), and the acting of Messrs Stott, Hurt and Griffiths was exemplary. However, it belongs to that peculiarly French dramatic convention whereby it is enough to have a small number of characters on one set...talking....and, er, that is it. Maybe I've just seen too much of this kind of thing but I find it a bit tedious now. I thought ART had far more bite and purpose, and the three roles were open to more interpretation than the three war vets who inhabit this piece....

Read more and add your own review